Jamshedpur, Feb. 17: If the forest department has its way, bamboo cottages will soon be the USP of the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary.

Talking to The Telegraph, Dalma range officer Sushil Oraon said the picturesque natural habitat for animals had failed to meet the desired tourist target in the absence of proper infratructure.

Currently, the forest department has a guest house on the hilltop, which is opened to tourists during peak season. The proposed bamboo cottages in the foothills of the Dalma range would now give nature tourism the much-needed fillip, he said. ďTo start with, we propose to develop four bamboo cottages in the Dalma foothills. They will be ready in the next couple of months.Ē

To make the package more pleasant, the forest department is also mulling a car pool to ferry tourists.

Officials, however, admitted that it was not possible for them to start such services on their own, as they were preoccupied with forest conservation work.

ďWe propose to rope in NGOs for the project. The pool service will also be managed by them. It will help tourists move from one end of the sanctuary to the other more conveniently,Ē an official said. At present, only people with cars can go to the top of Dalma hills.

Last year, the forest department had wanted to bring trained elephants from Assam for safari inside the sanctuary. However, it failed to get necessary clearances. The new project will involve minimum paperwork, the official said.

Situated 40km from Jamshedpur, the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is spread across 195 sqkm. The 3,000ft peak is a hot favourite of trekkers. Devotees, too, throng Dalma for its famous Shiva temple. Every year, around 15,000 devotees visit the Dalma.